The second half of last year saw the Laois market turn a corner, says local agent Paul Kelly of DNG Kelly, who indicates that prices have stopped falling and, in the latter half of 2013, started to level off.

The banks have been offloading stressed property here in earnest through 2013 so a pending impact is not feared in a market where repo property has made up a substantial proportion of sales. These sales will continue through 2014.

The big difference, however, is that the banks have started lending for home purchases again and Mr Kelly believes this will open the door for further activity and increased prices through 2014 more or less across the board.

Three-bed semis in towns were the most sought-after properties but the big surprise for Laois agents has been a recent surge in demand for bigger detached homes on land from people who are trading up.

The incentive here is that the price gap in real money terms has never been so narrow between average family homes and the much larger versions.

For those who have the money, it makes sense to make the change now. There has also been a surge in interest in equestrian property and, to a certain degree, there has been UK-based demand.

At the opposite end of the property scale, two-bed apartments – which originally sold for €200,000 in the boom years – were changing hands last year for as little as €30,000. Rents of €500 per month indicate some of the world's best yields.

The result has been that these properties have lifted in value noticeably over a short period of time.

The vast majority of buyers in Laois last year were wielding cash for their purchases and usually they were chasing stressed properties. Already this year the mix is changing with plenty of mortgage-equipped buyers now on the home hunting trail.